The hair on the back of his neck stood straight up, and his breaths quickened. He could hear the footsteps getting closer and closer. The high-pitched laugh echoed in the alleyway. Sky slowed his breathing, and when the footsteps got close enough, he whipped around to face his would-be assailant, gun drawn. Bridge shot his hands into the air. "Woah, woah! Just me! Just me!" Sky lowered his gun.
"Sky, what happened? Why are you all the way out here? We tried to call you like, a million times but at first you didn't answer, then we tried again and your transmitter turned off, then we tried to ping you but your signal was weak, then-"
"I'm fine. Just, saw something suspicious is all." Sky interrupted. "Then I heard the laughing and… whatever, it doesn't matter now. Let's get back."
Bridge remained stoic. "Laughing?" He asked.
Sky nodded. "Just before I turned around, someone was laughing. Didn't you hear it?"
Bridge shook his head. "No, no one was laughing. There wasn't even a sound. Well, except for my footsteps and your breathing and my breathing."
"You didn't hear it?" Sky's stomach lurched. "Well, uh, anyway, like I said, something suspicious."
"Something suspicious. That took you 20 blocks outside our radius and 36 blocks from your team." Bridge was obviously not convinced. "Is everything ok Sky?"
"Of course I'm fine." Sky said a little too harshly, he internally winced. "Listen, I'm fine. Just got carried away. Let's get back to the others." Bridge hesitated before nodding.
The two walked back to their bikes. Bridge pulled out of the alleyway. Sky looked back and thought he saw a shadow duck behind a building, but he blinked and it was gone. He revved his bike and followed Bridge.
The two cadets were only blurs as they headed back to the rest of their team. As they neared the others, Sky begrudgingly switched on his communications again.
"-have work to do here and now we are way behind!" Jack's voice came over the radio seconds before he came into view. The other three leaned against their vehicles, obviously waiting for Bridge and Sky.
"Sky!" Jack shouted as Sky slowed to a stop. "What were you doing? Where did you go?"
Sky shrugged. "Saw something suspicious." He kept the laughing part to himself this time. He was becoming more and more convinced he had imagined the whole thing.
"Something suspicious that was-!" Jack shouted, looking like he was about to boil over, but he stopped himself. He faced away from Sky for a moment. When he addressed Sky again, his voice was dangerously quiet. "Get on the bikes. You patrol with me for the rest of our time today." Sky opened his mouth to argue, but Syd shot him a look, and he snap it shut, fuming on the inside. He didn't need a babysitter.
The team loaded up and continued their way through the streets. Sky saw no more signs of the Gingin he thought he saw, but he did maintain an uneasy feeling. They wound through the streets for hours, taking a short break only for food once at around midday. Jack never let Sky out of his sight for one second, and Bridge checked in with Sky periodically throughout the day to ask how he was sun had begun to set by the time they returned to the station.
Without further incident, the Cadets returned a few minutes before their return time. They left their vehicles in the garage and left to report to Cruger. The five stopped short of the Command Center when raised voices rang down the hall.
"-impossible! There is no way he, or anyone or anyone else could have survived!"
The team looked at each other, puzzled expressions on their faces, and it seemed none of them recognized the voice.
"General, I understand that he was declared dead," Cruger spoke, "but even if the slightest possibility exists, we have to investigate to be sure."
"WE don't have to do anything!" The stranger shouted. "It's an outrage to think that A-Squad did anything but their best!"
"But, with all due respect, they were compromised, sir." Cruger's voice was low, and the five could almost feel the stranger's rage building.
"I am sending a tech team here tomorrow to go over these readings and fix the obviously malfunctioning equipment. It is nothing more than a malfunction!" The stranger barked.
"Sir, one more question?" Cruger asked. "If it is him, what should we do about Sky?"
"The boy?" The stranger asked, he huffed. "Off the record, if it was him, then I should say pray he doesn't know about the boy."
Sky tensed, and his teammates looked at him. What did this have to do with him?
"But on the record, Cruger, this is going in the books as a malfunction. I do not want to hear any more on the matter. Is that understood?"
"But sir-" Cruger started.
"IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?" The stranger shouted.
A small and stubborn, "Yes sir" came from Cruger.
The team heard footsteps and they shrank back until they receded. They cautiously peered around the corner. Cruger stood alone just outside of the Command Center. Sky saw Bridge slip his glove back on, concern and confusion splayed across his face. Jack lead the way as they approached him. Cruger turned as they came and they gave a brief salute.
"Reporting in, sir." Jack announced. Sky stood behind him, still thinking about the stranger. Why were they talking about him? What did they mean? Who even was he? Seemed like he was a general, but exactly how high of a general was he? Sky didn't even know where to begin. His family had been in SPD for generations, did it have something to do with his family's history?
"Cadet Tate."
Cruger's voice brought Sky back to the present. "Sir?"
"Landers told me you veered off on your own today?" He asked.
"I saw something suspicious, sir." He replied dutifully. Sky noticed with some surprise that Cruger looked worn and tired. His ears were flopping at the top, his eyes had red rings, he had creases on his face that made him seem years older than what he was, and his shoulders slouched.
Cruger sighed. "I guess that was one of the reasons for sending you out today. Good work today Cadets. Dismissed." The other Cadets saluted and walked away, but Sky took a little longer. Cruger usually gave him some sort of punishment for going against a direct order, but he wasn't about to question Cruger.
Sky followed the others at a distance. His stomach rumbled, but he couldn't bring himself to eat. His eyes were heavy from his lack of sleep and he dropped further behind.
"Sky, you coming?" Syd called out from ahead. Sky gently shook his head and Syd fell back to walk next to him. "What's up?" She asked. Again, Sky shook his head. "So, you're telling me, you're not going to come eat with us? What about your carefully constructed diet you've spent so long building?" She asked. Another shake.
"I'm pretty wiped from, uh, today." He lied. "Tomorrow is morning cardio and I need to get some sleep before that." He forced a half-hearted half-smile. "I'll see you in the morning." He trudged off, leaving Syd alone. Syd frowned. She knew that Sky never skipped a meal and she knew tomorrow was not his cardio day.
Sky closed his door on the world, his bed practically calling his name. He slumped into bed, his head barely touching the pillow before he fell asleep.
Sky opened his eyes.
Dark. Cold. Damp. Foul.
He was back in the chair and back in the darkness. No! He thought. No no no no. Sky pulled at cuffs on his wrists. He searched wildly about, looking for anyone or anything in the darkness beyond his little circle of light.
A high, thin laugh sounded from the darkness. "Welcome back to the nightmare."
